Discover the Liberating Christ: Believing in Everyday Love

Our season of waiting and expectation is almost done. The final Sunday of Advent. The final Sunday before Christmas. The next time we gather together, it will be to celebrate the birth of Christ. We gather at Christmas to celebrate God coming into the world, tearing down the ultimate barrier between us. But we’ll get to that next time.

Today, we continue to think about what it is that we are waiting for. What is it that we are hoping for? What does God coming into the world mean to us? 

Our readings for today paint a certain picture for us (see Micah 5:2-5a and Luke 1:39-55). In today’s readings, we see God choosing the least likely. Our readings show God choosing those who would be considered weak, outcast, marginalized as those most deserving of honor. Our readings show God giving preferential treatment to those most in need. Our readings show us that God does not choose the ones that our culture tends to tell us we are supposed to value.

Discover the Liberating Christ: Shaking the Foundations of the World

Advent is our season of waiting and expectation for the coming of Jesus. We anticipate again the birth of the Christ-child at the same time as we look for his return in glory. The readings for the first Sunday of Advent, which we read last week, most explicitly call to mind Jesus coming into the world again. Reading several verses from late in the Gospel of Luke, we heard Jesus’ vision of the future, a future when the Human One would come in power and splendor.

This week, we turn primarily to the early chapters of Luke as we consider the initial coming of Jesus and all that would mean for the world. Even so, you may have noticed that Jesus doesn’t even get an explicit mention this week. As we consider the theme of peace, our focus is actually on Jesus’ cousin, John (see Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Luke 3:1-6).

What Gift Can We Bring: Joy

As noted before, I approached Advent and Christmas this year with the hymn "What Gift Can We Bring" in the back of my head. As I thought about the gift that God gives to us in Jesus, I began to think about our calling as the body of Christ to continue to offer that same gift to the world. Using traditional Advent themes as well as the stories of the Christmas season, I continue to reflect on the gifts that we are meant to bring to the world.

On the third Sunday of Advent, we celebrate the gift of joy. Using the Magnificat (Luke 1:47-55), Mary's song in response to the news that she will be the mother of God-with-us, we reflect on a joy that is not for ourselves alone, but a joy that is meant for all peoples in all times and places.

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Mary’s song is one of my favorite gifts here in the first chapter of Luke. Mary has been visited by the angel who has told her that she has been chosen to be the mother of the Son of God. Even in the approach of the angel, we see the first inkling of Mary’s strength and wisdom.

Before she hears anything else, she ponders the angel’s greeting. She is obviously aware of the holy texts. She knows that angels don’t just show up to random people. There is a reason this angel has shown up to her. She has been chosen for something. And she likely has some idea of how difficult that task will be based on the history of her people. And she is perplexed because she can't believe she would be chosen for anything important.

Welcoming God into the World

This past Sunday many of us heard Mary's subversive song of joy. Here is my reflection on Luke 1:29-55 preached at Bright Star UMC.

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Today we celebrate the fourth and final Sunday of Advent. Our time of preparation and expectation is drawing to a close as we prepare to welcome the Christ into the world. Over the last few Sundays, we have heard from the prophets and from the Gospels about the coming of Christ into the world.

But we aren’t quite there yet.

We are still watching and waiting.

We are still hoping.

Just as the Israelites in the time of the prophets, we are looking for our salvation.